"I have decided to set up a high level judicial commission headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court. This commission will decide after its investigation that what is reality and how much weight these allegations count," Sharif said in a TV address broadcast nation-wide. The leak, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposes how some of the world's most powerful people have secreted their money offshore, and also implicated Sharif's sons Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz.
Recorder Report adds: The prime minister stated that his family has never taken any benefit while he was in power and asked those detractors to appear before the commission and submit evidence, if any, to it. Sharif stated that some people are targeting him and his family for political designs. He added that "25-year-old" repeated allegations are once again being raised on media.
"Our children are facing criticism whether they do their business at home or abroad," he said, adding his son Hassan Nawaz is residing in the UK since 1994 while his another son Hussain Nawaz has been in Saudi Arabia since 2000. Nawaz Sharif said that his family has never defaulted and returned every penny of loans that it had taken from banks. "We repaid around Rs 6 billion loans to banks," he said. He said that he wants to bring some basic facts before the nation. In this regard, he explained how his father had established a business in Lahore even before the creation of Pakistan which was a major source of employment to thousands of families. He said that Ittefaq Foundry has also suffered first because of the fall of Dhaka and was subsequently nationalised by the then Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The Prime Minister said his family business was targeted by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, adding that the then army ruler Pervez Musharraf, too, was inimical to his family and family interests. Nawaz said that his family set up a steel mill in Saudi Arabia by taking loans from the Saudi banks. The Prime Minister said he is fully determined to take Pakistan to zenith of progress and prosperity and would continue working towards that noble objective.